Home health provider suspected of stealing meds

Police in Orange arrested a woman at an auto accident she caused after finding numerous prescription pills in her possession, police reported.

Skye Nicole Frederick, 30, of Orange, was arrested Friday, Aug. 30, for possession of a controlled substance after police responded to a call regarding a traffic accident near Highway 62 and the South Service road in Orange at approximately 4:28 p.m. Upon arrival at the scene, OPD Officer Patrick McDonald reported he made contact with Frederick, who he referred to in his report as the “at-fault driver.” He stated in the report, “I had just recently dealt with Frederick at a theft of prescription medication call just an hour earlier.” McDonald reported he was told to have Frederick remain at the scene so officers could question her about the missing prescription.

The theft McDonald was referring to was reported by a home healthcare patient earlier the same Friday. The officer was dispatched a short time after 2 p.m. to an apartment at 653 MLK Drive in Orange. A man at the residence told the officer his medication had been stolen. The man advised police he kept his medication in a cheese box and that when he went to retrieve it he found the medication missing and the prescription bottles inside of the box. When the man looked for the bottles to turn over to police, he was unable to find them either, police reported. He advised police that the only two people with access to his home were two home health attendants. Both attendants were questioned and searched at the scene, but no drugs were found. Skye Frederick was one of the two attendants questioned regarding the missing medication, according to McDonald’s report regarding the auto accident that took place a couple of hours after the theft.

According to McDonald, after the auto accident, Frederick appeared to be “very nervous and shaking.” When asked if she had anything illegal, Frederick reportedly gave officers permission to search her vehicle. After searching the vehicle, McDonald reported he observed a white pill drop from Frederick’s purse as she reached for a cigarette. He said he saw more pills inside the purse, which he stated was sitting on the trunk of Frederick’s vehicle. McDonald reported that is when he handcuffed Frederick.

McDonald reported that officers at the scene were able to visually identify at least one of the pills as Soma, or Carisoprodol. After further search of Frederick’s purse and person, officers arrested her for possession of a controlled substance PG3 (Class A). She was placed into McDonald’s patrol car for transport to the Orange County Correctional Facility. While en route to the jail, Frederick reportedly advised officers she had more narcotics inside her bra. Among the 30-plus pills discovered, officers found Frederick to be in possession of Promethezine, Lorazepam, Hydrocodone and Carisprodol, according to the report.

This is not Frederick’s first arrest, or even her first arrest this year. She was arrested May 21 for possession of a controlled substance after officers received a call regarding a possibly intoxicated female driver. OPD Officer Robert Campbell reported that, after finding the vehicle at a gas station, he watched for a while and saw it pull into a nearby parking lot a short time later. When he then saw the same vehicle leaving the lot, he reportedly noticed the car swerving onto the shoulder and observed that the woman was driving. He stated in the report that he then stopped the vehicle and attained permission to search the vehicle and the purse of the driver, who was identified as Skye Frederick.

Campbell reported finding two bottles of prescription medication inside Frederick’s purse. The prescriptions were under someone else’s name and filled in Liberty County. The man whose name was on the prescription drug labels in the May incident was the same man who reported his missing medication Aug. 30.

At the time of the May incident, Frederick claimed she was a healthcare provider working for Texas Home Health and was keeping the medication in her possession for “safekeeping,” Campbell reported. Frederick was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and taken to the Orange County Correctional Facility, according to police.

A database search revealed that Frederick has prior arrests and charges for driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 in the vehicle, theft by check and failure to identify.

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